


Short Fuse and High Maintenance

by changgushedgehog



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Feelings Realization, First Impressions, Fluff, Getting Together, Height Differences, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27109408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changgushedgehog/pseuds/changgushedgehog
Summary: A few months passed with Lev on the team and at this point, Yaku was convinced that Lev was sent here to continuously make him feel small. Of course, Lev had never meant it in an offending way and somehow, that made it even worse. This way, Yaku didn’t only have to deal with the spite he felt from a fucking giant calling him short, he also had to deal with this weird tingling feeling in his heart that made his ears burn a little bit red.
Relationships: Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke
Comments: 5
Kudos: 112





	Short Fuse and High Maintenance

Everything started on the day Lev first stepped into Nekoma’s gym for his first volleyball practice and caught sight of that one very short player. The third-year libero, Yaku Morisuke. Lev’s first impression of him was very simple: small. At that time, he hadn’t known yet how much that single fact would affect him and make a mess of his thoughts.

Haiba Lev, being a very tall person had, of course, seen small people. Actually, most people he’d encountered could be considered smaller than him. There was nothing to be surprised at in  Yaku’s case either, especially since his amazing receiving skills definitely made up for his height on the court. Lev loved everything that was small and cute ever since he was a child. He would often feed the cats and dogs in the neighborhood or play with the children. He was very good with children and children liked him a lot too. They loved sitting on his shoulders to see the world from a higher point of view and just simply having one more playmate.

Becoming a regular member of the volleyball team taught Lev three things: his spiking teacher and setter, Kenma is impatient and reluctant to practice with him; his blocking teacher and captain, Kuroo is annoying and keeps nagging his ear off; his receiving teacher, Yaku is not only short but also has a short fuse. Lev honestly hated receiving practices, it was way too exhausting to keep running from one side of the court to the other and continuously dive for the ball. Yaku’s steadily reverberating scolding and yelling didn’t make it better either. Lev sneaked out not once when his senpai wasn’t paying attention. In the end, Lev concluded that not all small things were lovely and cute.

=^.^=

Yaku  Morisuke could feel it deep in his guts the very first time he’d met Lev. It was a very intense boiling feeling that he couldn’t quite place at that time. He’d known it was triggered by his first impression on Lev: annoyingly tall half Russian towering over him to accentuate how small Yaku actually was. Yaku  _ hated  _ feeling small. He did all he could to make people focus on his high-quality receiving skills instead of his height and reveled in the fact that there were smaller players on the court as well. For example, Hinata  Shouyou from  Karasuno . Hinata was actually a whole centimeter shorter than Yaku  _ and  _ a middle blocker where height was the most important quality. Seeing him, Yaku didn’t seem all that special.

His feeling of disdain had only grown after he started to practice together with Lev. God, he sucked at everything so much... but he still kept running around shouting that he’d become the ace of  Nekoma earning an earful from Yamamoto.

“Shut up and drag your ass back to receiving,”  Yaku yelled at him, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and dragging him to the other side of the court. He cursed himself internally for not being able to reach his ear to drag him by that. Stupid tall bastard.

A few months passed with Lev on the team and at this point,  Yaku was convinced that Lev was sent here to continuously make him feel small. 

“ Yaku -san, you’re so good at volleyball even though your  _ small _ ?”

“Is  Hinata really  _ smaller  _ than you?”

“ Yaku -san, you’re so  _ small  _ and  **_ cute _ ** .”

Of course, Lev had never meant it in an offending way and somehow, that made it even worse. This way, Yaku didn’t only have to deal with the spite he felt from a fucking giant calling him short, he also had to deal with this weird tingling feeling in his heart that made his ears burn a little bit red. That pair of sparkling eyes always held such sincerity in them that Yaku hardly could think that Lev was making fun of him. A tiny thought bloomed in the back of his mind: maybe, just maybe this guy actually  _ liked  _ his height? 

Yaku crushed this ridiculous thought, kicked Lev on the butt and refused to even look at the pouting man. What’s there to like about height anyways?

=^.^=

Lev’s first impression on  Yaku Morisuke took a 360° turn after a few months passed. It changed from small and adorable to little and aggressive then back to small and adorable. He’d come a full circle only because  Yaku’s passion for volleyball and his blunt nature scared Lev at first. He needed a few weeks to get used to it and realize that even though  Yaku seemed to harbor some kind of grudge against him, his sharp words were never meant to harm Lev, only to help him improve for the sake of the team. The kicks and the punches he received were all things he could thank his own big mouth for. His teammates kept telling him over and over again to quit pointing out  Yaku’s height if he wanted to live but he couldn’t help himself. That man, 2 years older than him, so self-conscious about a quality that only made him more charming in Lev’s eyes, was someone Lev could never control himself around.

It was all because Lev’s brain worked in the simplest way. When he saw something that he liked, he couldn’t help but compliment it. And god, did he like  Yaku Morisuke a lot...

An unexpected phone call was the catalyst that deepened and secured just how much Lev actually liked the libero. He could neither expect or foresee it, much less stop it before everything had already escalated to the point of no return.

The caller was Lev’s older sister, Alisa who announced that she would come and live in Japan for a few months. Lev was very excited to see his sister and even more excited to introduce her to his teammates. He was super proud of his sister being a successful and beautiful model, and he wanted to show off his newly learned volleyball skills too. So, Lev invited Alisa to their upcoming game and made her meet his team at the entrance of the stadium.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

“Hello, I’m  Haiba Alisa. Thank you for always taking care of  Lyovochka ,” Alisa greeted the  Nekoma members and the members had their jaw on the floor.

“No way, is this your sister?”  Yamamato had already hearts in his eyes.

“She is! Doesn’t we look very similar?” Lev asked, standing proudly by Alisa’s side, both of them smiling.

“ Hm ,”  Kuroo nodded. “I guess you have some shared genes.” 

“She's prettier than Lev, though,”  Kenma concluded and the whole team agreed as if  Kenma’s words were law.

Lev pouted while Alisa laughed, feeling happy that his brother was getting along so well with his teammates. His gaze swept through his cheerful teammates before it finally landed on the small form of the libero he’d lately always kept in a corner of his vision. Yaku was currently staring at the pair of siblings with barely visible pink dusting his cheeks. Suddenly, his eyes met Lev’s and with a slight but sudden widening of them, he turned away completely. Lev’s eyes widened at the same time and a weird fluttering feeling spread in his heart and his stomach like a hundred butterflies taking flight at once.

Lev almost forgot that fleeting moment of locked eyes and flushed cheeks until Alisa came to cheer for them at another game. 

“Alisa-san came again?”  Yaku rushed up to Lev, asking with sparkling eyes and the faint pink hue once again present on his cheeks.  “ She’s really too beautiful.”

Lev furrowed his brows, quickly making the connection between the flustered state of the libero and his sister’s presence. In the end, he only rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, “ I know right. L et’s make sure to win today,  Yaku -san!"

Yaku nodded, “ Just try not to get in the way of the receives when you block.”

“ Yaku -san...” Lev whined as the both of them ran up to line for the start.

The flushing and blushing, along with  Yaku being uncharacteristically excited certainly didn’t help Lev tone his adoration down. If anything, it only sparked a thousand wishful scenarios inside the tall boy’s head. It seemed as if a whole new world opened for him, and the urge to never stop observing the short libero only increased.

If only he would receive half the attention of what  Yaku blessed his sister with… 

=^.^=

Yaku seemed to not really look into Lev’s eyes. That made sense, he probably didn’t want to strain his neck looking up but Lev still imagined what it would feel like to have those sparkling brown eyes bore into his own, focusing on him and nothing else. Yaku-san's cheeks seemed to be round and delicate, they would probably fit nicely into Lev’s palms. Lev imagined pale skin warming up and changing shades under his touch until it became hot and red, a pair of lips awaiting to meet them with his own in a soft kiss-

Lev shook his head furiously to dissolve the mental image that strayed into dangerous territories.  Yaku gave him a weird look, “Are you even listening to me?”

Lev’s only response was an awkward laugh, followed by  Yaku’s exasperated sigh.

“I guess we should call it a day.”

“Sorry, Yaku-san,” Lev mumbled guiltily, walking after his receiving tutor out of the gym and into the clubroom to change.

“It’s fine. I didn’t expect to stay until this late, either,”  Yaku said, doing everything in his power to keep his turned backside to Lev but he still couldn’t conceal a faint blush making its way into the tall boy’s view.

Lev rubbed his eyes, thinking that he must be really exhausted. His sister was nowhere in sight but Yaku-san was still blushing, that couldn’t be anything more than his mind playing games with him. He proceeded to change out of his sweaty practice clothes as fast as possible, thinking about a nice mind-clearing shower and some refreshing sleep at home.

However, something even more unexpected happened.

Yaku stopped in his tracks when they exited the school grounds and turned to look up at Lev, “Hey,  wanna stop by the convenience store? I’ll treat you to ice cream.”

Lev’s eyes widened in absolute disbelief, feeling his insides burst from happiness. “ Yaku -san!”

“W-what? If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. Just thought you’ve been working hard lately...” Yaku immediately averted his eyes, making wide movements with his arm to punctuate to the best of his abilities that this was not a big deal and there was no reason for Lev to be  _ this  _ happy. But Lev was even more happy because he knew very well that Yaku, although a very dependable senpai, wasn’t the type to just treat others to ice cream or anything else.

Lev caught one of  Yaku’s flailing arms, his long fingers circling around the thin wrist. “I’d like that very much.”

“ Th -then let’s go,”  Yaku said, half mumbling the words, the blush creeping up on his cheeks again and not escaping Lev’s watchful eyes.

“Okay!”

The short walk to the convenience store down the street was spent in the quiet of the night. Lev’s head was so full of the confused happiness that overwhelmed him that somehow, he even forgot to speak, not filling up the silence with his usual chitchats. His eyes fluctuated between the road ahead and the short boy beside him, their gazes meeting every once in a while, before Yaku forcefully ripped away his.

They arrived too fast to Lev’s liking and  Yaku sprinted inside, speedily navigating to where the ice creams were kept. It didn’t take long before he exited the store and offered one of the two ice creams to Lev with a bright smile on his face. “Here. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you!” Lev accepted the treat, savoring the feeling of their fingers brushing together for the entirety of two seconds. 

Eating the ice cream with  Yaku next to him giving him warm looks, the tiniest of smiles and well-earned compliments, Lev had two conclusions:

  1. Hard work does indeed pay off and if this is his reward for holding out on Yaku-san's demonic training then it was all worth it, without a doubt.
  2. Yaku-san is the most adorable human being in the world and if he can’t have him, he doesn’t want anyone else.



=^.^=

Yaku deeply regretted treating Lev for ice cream that night. Who would have thought that this would happen? All he wanted was to increase Lev’s motivation and to not have that look full of dread on his face whenever an extra receiving practice began. That’s the only reason why he willed himself to ask Kuroo Tetsurou with his shit-eating grin for advice on how to achieve that.

_ “ _ _ Yakkun _ _ , have you ever heard of the stick and carrot method?” _

_ “Please, say it so non-nerds can understand too,”  _ _ Yaku _ _ replied even though he had a feeling of what  _ _ Kuroo _ _ was implying already. _

_ “I’m saying that you shouldn’t just scold him when he messes up but also give him rewards when he does well.” _

_ Yaku _ _ groaned internally, a frown making itself present outwardly. _

_ “Come on,  _ _ Yakkun _ _ , it’s not that difficult to give the guy a few compliments. It’s not like you  _ _ gotta _ _ confess your undying love,”  _ _ Kuroo _ _ joked but the chuckle got caught in his throat when he saw  _ _ Yaku’s _ _ wide eyes and flushed cheeks before they turned into angry pools of storm. _

_ “Who would confess anything to that idiot...” _

_ “You’re welcome!” Kuroo shouted after him as Yaku stomped out of the clubroom. “Huh, I didn’t expect that he cares about Lev this much.” _

_ Kenma lifted his eyes from his game to look at Kuroo, “I give them one month.” _

_ “Bet.” _

To give  Kuroo some credit, Lev did become more enthusiastic about practice after the ice cream reward. However,  Yaku did not expect him to become  _ this  _ enthusiastic.

Lev arrived on time, didn’t try to slack off or escape and paid great attention to each and every word  Yaku had said to him. His bright emerald eyes bore into  Yaku with an unfamiliar intensity, making it difficult for  Yaku to stay collected and not stumble over his words. 

He had no idea what went through the titan’s head but not only the attention, the physical contact had also increased. Usually, Lev would run off and bother Kenma for tosses to polish his spikes for which he needed to sacrifice his break time in order to convince Kenma (with the help of the coaches and the captain). Lately, Lev reserved a seat next to Yaku, sitting always in close proximity, thighs, shoulders and fingertips often brushing together. It never ceased to ignite a small fire in Yaku’s chest, making the heat spread all the way to his cheeks where it burned in pink. Yaku felt that every time he blushed because of Lev, he’d lost a piece of his honorable senpai image.

Well, not that Lev had ever cared about his senpai image, he’d always talked back to him and continuously called him short. Yaku was pretty sure that Lev had no respect for him whatsoever.

...On second thought, this statement didn’t feel quite correct. Because even though Lev rarely listened to him in the way  Yaku had wanted him to, Lev never crossed any lines and always looked at him with nothing but pure admiration. 

Yaku felt his cheeks warm up at the thought again and squeezed his hands in a tight fist, feeling the overwhelming need to punch someone. Preferably the cause of his state. Preferably in the face. 

Of course, he’d spent quite a lot of time thinking about why his initial reaction to everything related to Lev was violence but the result only pissed him off more.  Dreadful words of ‘confess’ and ‘undying love’ coming from his latest conversation with  Kuroo popped up in his mind, and his rage  changed targets, now very much wishing to punch the captain. 

Stupid  Kuroo saying stupid things, implying that  Yaku was in love with a stupid giant who kept making him feel all kind of stupid feelings.  However,  Yaku felt the stupidest out of them all for  actually considering the idea quite often lately. 

Sometimes, he would catch himself staring at Lev without realizing it and even after realizing, he would keep on looking at the way his expression brightened when he nailed a spike, saved a ball or blocked a shot. It was even more interesting to see him get frustrated when he messed up, screaming but immediately focusing on the next rally. Yaku felt his chest tighten and a smile creeping onto his face at the same time. And the worst, the absolute worst was after practice! When Lev was spread out on the floor as if he was dead after the coach dismissed everyone and Yaku would approach Lev while wiping his face with a towel. He had no idea what had gotten into him but his hand moved against his own will and patted the disheveled silver hair. Lev looked up in shock and the moment their eyes locked, both of them froze. Both of their cheeks were pink but only Lev could see it grace Yaku’s turned face while the libero stood up, removed his hand and lightly poked Lev’s side with his foot. 

“Get up , don’t lie on the floor,” he spat out mechanically and walked away as fast as he could without appearing suspicious.  He hated to admit it to even himself so he sure as hell  would never admit anything about his maybe existing feelings to the boy himself. 

=^.^=

Now, Lev was not the brightest lightbulb in the bunch but when it came to Yaku, he was prompt to notice a change in attitude. Unfortunately, the conclusion he got from this simple observation was not quite correct. 

Lately, it seemed that Yaku was being more distant around him. There was less scolding and less hits and kicks attacking him but that also meant less physical contact. Lev felt somewhat weird for thinking about how he missed Yaku-san’s small fist punching his sides but this train of thought quickly geared him towards memories that made a lot more sense. Shoulders leaning against each other while resting, fingers brushing together while a reward of ice cream was passed, warm fingers combing through his hair after a long day of practice… 

Lev raised a hand, touching his hair for himself and feeling  a strange kind of loneliness.  He  didn’t know why  Yaku patted his head that day but he would sell his soul  to only have that hand rest on top of his head again. There was just something  about the short  boy touching the top of this tall boy that felt more encouraging and comforting than any words could ever make him feel.

“ If you don’t focus then stop wasting my time,”  Kenma’s annoyed grumble  and a volleyball fallen to the floor and rolling away brought Lev out of the maze of his thoughts.  The maze of  Yaku , we might as well call it by name.  He had no idea that the smallest distance would make him miss  the previous affection so much. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen  Yaku anymore, only  that there was no more talking and interaction aside from practice.  Missing someone right beside him was definitely not normal. 

Lev sighed, “Sorry,  Kenma -san. ”

Kenma stared at Lev’s slouched form, observant eyes seeing right through him and he sighed as well, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing Lev straighten up and his cheeks darkening confirmed  Kenma’s suspicion.  “ Yaku -san?”

“I-I mean,” Lev stammered, trying not to give his feelings away which was highly difficult when Kenma’s scrutinizing gaze felt like he was completely naked. “He seems like he’s avoiding me. But he’s practicing with me as usual so it might just be me...”

“Oh,”  Kenma said, glancing at  Yaku practicing with  Kuroo and  Yamamoto before he made a decision. 

“W-what?” Lev felt very uneasy. 

“Do you like  Yaku -san?”

“ Wha \- I… H-how did you know?”

“I didn’t know. You just told me,”  Kenma pointed out then added when he saw Lev’s horrified expression.  “But I  kinda guessed already.  You’re super obvious.”

“Do you think  Yaku -san noticed something and this is why  he’s avoiding me?”

“I’m sure he noticed something but I doubt it’s  how you feel…”  Kenma rolled his eyes.  It almost pained him how these two were so focused on their own feelings that they failed to notice  the other struggling with the exact same feelings. Maybe he could give them a little push, he thought, he had a bet to win, after all. 

Lev tilted his head in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“ Have you ever thought that he might like you too?”

=^.^=

Lev ran through the streets excitedly, a sense of urgency in his steps. He hoped that he would still be able to catch up to Yaku. He didn’t even dare to think about reciprocated feelings before but Kenma’s words sparked hope in his heart. Kenma would never comfort anyone with empty words so with encouragement from Kenma, he felt like he had the support of the entire universe behind him. 

“Yaku-san!” he called out when he spotted the small figure passing in front of the convenience store near the school. He locked eyes with the surprised libero. Lev strode over, crossing the distance with a few long strides and towered over Yaku. Yaku despised when anyone, especially Lev of all people, towered over him and he didn’t hesitate to insert his palm into the stupidly tall person’s side.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked with a frown.

Lev clutched his painful side, the sparkles in his eyes not at all subsiding as they bore into Yaku. “Yaku-san, do you like me?”

Yaku was taken aback by the bluntness of the question, completely speechless for a moment before finding his voice again. “Did you hit your head? Why would I like you? You can’t even make a proper block.” He didn’t mention his spikes. Yaku had to admit, he got a lot better at those, scoring important points for the team.

“No, that’s not what I mean. Do you  _ like  _ like me?”

“...”  Yaku had a bad feeling about the persistent questioning. “Why are you even asking me that?”

“ Yaku -san, please, answer  me .”

_ He knows. _ Yaku had half a mind to punch him with all of his might and run away if that’s the only way he could get out of this mess. How could this be possible? Lev was way too oblivious to realize the affections masked behind yelling. Yaku swore to murder whoever ratted him out. Kuroo, he was sure of it. That bastard always enjoyed messing with him.

“What if I do?” he glared at Lev, trying not to let the embarrassment show on his face and daring the tall man to make fun of him.

It was as if a thousand fireworks went off in Lev’s mind, he radiated excited happiness as he got closer to  Yaku . “Because I like you too! I really  really like you,  Yaku -san!” 

Yaku looked at him like he was crazy. Why would this guy like him? That made no sense to him. He did nothing but yell at him, scold him, kick his butt, punch his side, slap his head...  Yaku didn’t know if he should feel relieved that he was liked despite his horrendous treatment or just stupefied because was this guy a masochist or what?

“Are you stupid?” Was the only thing that ended up coming out of Yaku.

Lev didn’t even hear it. “I’m so happy you feel the same way. Sometimes, I thought you really hated me but then you would stare at me like that so I was kind of confused. Ah, I’m  soooo happy now.”

Yaku blinked. How did he exactly stare at Lev? Shit, had he been caught? That’s too embarrassing, he wished he could poke out his own eyes. Lev continued rambling but Yaku’s mind went completely blank as he tried and failed to assess this situation.

“ Yaku -san, can I kiss you?”

“Huh?!” Lev’s face was suddenly way too close and  Yaku’s heartbeat sped up while a blush spread onto his cheeks. He unconsciously covered his face with an arm. “Aren’t you getting way too ahead of yourself here? Shouldn’t you ask if I want to be your boyfriend first? ”

Lev’s eyes softened. He gently pried  Yaku’s arm away from his face and smiled at the pretty pink blush on his face. Cute.  Yaku was really too cute. It was impossible to resist.

“But we like each other. And I really want to kiss you right now. Don’t you?”

The question sounded innocent coming from him but for  Yaku’s ears it held a teasing tone and mixed feelings dueled in his mind. He did want to kiss Lev. God knows how many times he imagined how his lips would feel against his but he would rather die than to say it and since he’s too short for a surprise kiss, he decided to die without ever getting the experience.

However, his head ended up nodding. He actually nodded! This simple gesture shocked both Lev and himself. Fortunately, he didn’t have the time to be embarrassed about it because Lev’s lips landed on his almost instantly. It was a  short kiss, innocent and sweet and lighting up both of their faces with bliss and blush. 

“ Yaku -san,” Lev smiled when he pulled away. “ Would you be my boyfriend?”

Yaku’s blush deepened until his face was the same color as his  Nekoma jacket.  “Y-yeah, I guess we’re dating now…”

“ Yay,  I’ll make you happy, I promise!” Lev was beside himself with excitement and instantly wrapped up  Yaku in his arms, finally feeling the satisfaction  of holding his own little happiness and he swore to himself that he would never let him go. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be a oneshot but idk there's still so many unresolved ideas i had while writing so maybe, maybe, maybe, i'll add more parts??


End file.
